Mike Dawson, Monterey City Council - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Mike Dawson, Monterey City Council

Party/Affiliation: n/a
Current Job: Retired Mechanical Engineer

Top 3 Priorities if Elected:

SELECT AND HIRE A GREAT CITY MANAGER (PRESENT CITY MANAGER RETIRES IN JULY)

Start a search as soon as possible using a professional search firm.  Public entities nearby elected to do the search themselves, and are now retrenching and hiring a firm to help them.  The City Manager's job is extremely important to Monterey, and finding and  hiring the very best candidate will go far in helping us achieve our plans for the next decade.

CLEAN UP AND REVITALIZE OUR DOWTOWN

I was approached several years ago by some Danish tourists on Alvarado Street, who described Monterey as a ‘dirty little town'.  That's extremely embarrassing.  I want to be proud of my downtown.  We need to clean up the little things first, the gum on the sidewalk, the cigarette butts, the trash blowing in the wind, and then start with the bigger things.  We need to renew our awnings that are dirty and detract from some really beautiful architecture on Alvarado Street.  Some storefronts need renewal, as well, with a coat of paint as a good start.  If we're going to get some great tenants on Alvarado, we're going to have to attract them with great surroundings. Part of the great surroundings is to renovate the Conference Center.  I'm in favor of the full renovation, with the exception of breaking up the Steinbeck Forum, which many of us love as is.

SECURE AN INEXPENSIVE, PUBLIC SOURCE OF WATER FOR MONTEREY

I've been to Moss Landing 3 times in the past year, touring the facilities there.  I believe there are some outstanding opportunities waiting for us there.  There is infrastructure in place that could help us beat the clock that's ticking down to 2017, when the PUC will cut our water supply to the bone.  A publicly-owned water plant there would be far cheaper than the plant proposed by Cal-Am Water.  The proposed publicly operated plant in Calsbad, CA will sell water for $2300 per Ac-ft, and Cal-Am is proposing $4400, at last count.  I'll work as an engineer and a councilmember to create that water plant, and get us that affordable, drought-proof water supply.